Swimming pools may be provided with a plurality of "skimmers" positioned around the periphery of the pool. These skimmers are electric motor-driven pumps that continually draw off the surface water of the pool, filter it, and return the water to the pool at a point below the surface thereof. As a result, bugs, leaves, cigarette butts or other debris are effectively skimmed off the surface of the pool and are removed before sinking to the bottom of the pool. These skimmers have a removable cover or lid which is generally in the form of a circular metal or plastic plate that is substantially flush with the surface of the concrete apron adjacent to the pool. This circular plate is usually provided with an access opening, which may consist of a central hole or else a pair of diametrically-opposed recesses or notches formed in the plate. To remove the plate, the inspector's finger or a suitable implement may be inserted into one of the notches to lift the lid. The filter basket within the skimmer may then be inspected, and the contents thereof discarded prior to replacing the lid. Also, the filter basket is usually made of plastic and occasionally requires replacement.
This procedure requires the inspector (or home owner) to assume a kneeling or crouching position to lift each lid; and to preclude tampering by children, the lid may have a relatively tight fit. Thus lifting the lids on a plurality of skimmers around the pool may become uncomfortable and tiring. This is especially aggravating for municipal or governmental inspectors, as well as service personnel, who are required to examine many skimmers during the course of a day's work. Moreover, where swimming pools are located adjacent to wooded areas, small mice, frogs, snakes or lizards may occasionally find their way into the skimmer, and thus indiscriminately poking one's fingers through an access opening in the lid may become hazardous.
Additionally, for in-ground or above-ground swimming pools, hot tubs, health center spas and other recreational pools, it is necessary (or at least desirable) to maintain certain water chemistry parameters. Thus, the water in the pool must be sampled at certain intervals to run various tests, such as the chlorine level, PH level, total alkalinity, calcium hardness, total dissolved solids, algae and the like. To take individual water samples for each test, various kits are commercially available. One such testing kit, marketed by Taylor Chemical Company, includes a plurality of rectangular cross-sectioned standardized sampling tubes or vials. Each vial is molded from a clear plastic, and the vial is open at one end and closed at its other end. The inspector merely rolls up his sleeve, grips the vial, plunges it into the swimming pool to a desired depth, and lifts the vial out of the pool to obtain a sample of the water. While apparently effective for the purposes intended, this procedure is nevertheless time consuming, awkward, and somewhat messy. Moreover, it may be difficult to gauge the depth to which the vial has been plunged into the pool.